A known cabinet for an electrical switchboard includes a frame defined by coupling a plurality of frame members. The frame defines a space suitable for housing one or more electrical components of an electrical switchboard therein.
For example, cabinets for low voltage electrical switchboards house, inter alia, circuit breakers, bus bars, control buttons, cable conduits, and supporting guides.
The frame furthermore constitutes a structural skeleton to which the elements for supporting the above-mentioned electrical components, the cladding panels, the top, the base, the door of the cabinet, etc., are operatively connected.
The cabinet is arranged so that the lower part of its frame rests on a supporting base and is fixed thereto. In turn, the supporting base is fixed to a bearing surface, such as the floor of the room housing the cabinet. In addition to supporting and fixing the frame, the supporting base defines a lower compartment for the accommodation and passage of wiring cables for the electrical components placed into the frame itself.
Generally, the supporting base includes four corner elements, each one suitable for being operatively connected to a corresponding lower corner portion of the frame. The base corner element includes an upper wall to which the corresponding corner portion of the frame is fixed, a lower wall which is fixed to the floor, and lateral walls connecting the lower and upper walls, so as to distribute the weight exerted by the cabinet to the lower wall and, therefore, to the floor.
For example, base corner elements according to a known solution include three lateral walls, defining three of the lateral faces of the corner element itself, while the remaining lateral face is used as an access to the upper and lower walls.
Generally, the base corner element is manufactured monolithically, by cutting and folding a metal plate so as to define a structure including the upper wall, the lower wall, and the lateral walls.
The upper, lower and lateral walls are mutually connected so that the structure of the base corner element is kept rigidly assembled mainly by the weight of the frame of the cabinet (and the components associated with or housed into such frame).
For example, one of the lateral walls could be displaced with respect to its position for supporting the upper wall, due, for example, to an external applied force. Such displacement would cause a deformation of the upper wall subjected to the above-mentioned weight, and therefore a decreasing of the overall sturdiness of the base element.
Therefore, in view of the current state of the art, although known solutions perform in a rather satisfying way, there is still reason and desire for further improvements.